• Question: i play at a professional level of cricket (northants county) and so i wanted to test ur knowledge. the ball swings because one side of the ball is shiny and the other is rougher. this cause the shiny side to be hevier than the rough side. so when u bowl they all put the shiny side on the lift for in swing, snd the shiny side on the right for out swing. my new question for u is how does the ball reverse swing, meaning swinging one way and then the other

    Asked by ixabdulxi to Louisa, Ben, Beth, Andrew on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Andrew McKinley

      Andrew McKinley answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Are you testing our knowledge again with this one? The truth is that I don’t know enough about cricket to know the exact behaviour of the ball in ‘reverse swing’ to be able to explain the physics of it. What is curious though is why does a brand new ball swing? It is shiny on both sides, so how does it swing?
      Could it be that if you spin it a certain way, when it hits the ground it affects the spin so starts to swing the other way? As I say, I’m honestly not sure, but with your level of cricket you may well be able to say what sort of spin you put on the ball to make it reverse swing.

    • Photo: Louisa Chard

      Louisa Chard answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Honestly, I had enough trouble working out the physics of swing balls when it was explained to me so not sure about reverse swing or why that happens, although I think it happens more with old balls that are rougher so must be to do with air resistance again. Let me know the reason if you know it, would be interesting to know.

    • Photo: Beth Dyson

      Beth Dyson answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      I’m not sure on the science of it, but I think I’m right in saying the ball should be more asymmetrical (more rough on one side) and that you need lots of speed? You will definitely know more than me!!!

Comments